MechChem Africa November 2018

Stainless Steel Awards showcase local

The winners of the 2018 Sassda Columbus Stainless Awards were announced at a Gala Dinner in Fourways, Johannesburg on Thursday October 25, 2018. From the 189 entries from 53 different companies, the judges compiled a list of more than 60 finalists, from which 18 winners had to be chosen. Peter Middleton reports.

A nyone doubting South Africa’s design, manufacturing, fabrication and technical abilities need only sift through a single sub-category of the Sassda Stainless Steel award entries to have their faith restored. For the Category 2 Sector awards, for example, in the Agro-Processing, Food and Beverage sector, is an entry from Saturn Stainless Industries’ for a world-first indus- trial percolator for efficiently extracting teas such as buchu, rooibos and safflower ‘with higher efficiency and a 75% cost reduction compared to imported versions’ – and this is entry 11 in the category, and did not make it into ‘the finals’. It was competing against multi-million randplantandprocessingequipmentfromND

Engineering and FP Engineering; along with food processing equipment specialists such asAndersonEngineering, Roar Construction, Logichem, Coldstar International and Chad- O-Chef; and suppliers of modern solutions such as Inox Systems with its innovative cor- rugated stainless steel tube. Tough competition indeed! The winner in this category? Pieter­ maritzburg-based Anderson Engineering for its Anderson Combo Emulsi Mixer (ACE Mixer), a three-stagemulti-chambermodular hygienic design ‘specificallydeveloped for the homogenisation of products with poor misci- bilityand/orhighviscosity’–oneofmanyclear demonstrationsthatSouthAfricancompanies have the ability and capacity to develop inno- vative solutions for our processing industries.

Pulse, an architectural stainless steel sculpture designed and manufactured by Johannesburg- based Spiral Engineering for the Nike World Headquarters in the USA, won the Art Sector award. “This year, perhapsmore thanever, awards of this nature are essential as they celebrate the innovation, strength and durability of the SouthAfrican stainless steel industry, despite the buffetingwinds of change that have beset our country,” said Sassda executive director John Tarboton in introducing the awards. “Despite these challenges, entries ranged from locally manufactured stainless steel corrugated pipes toworld-class architectural masterpieces to feats of engineering and in- spiring stories of transformation and growth amongst our members,” he added. A particularly stunning piece of work called Pulse, an architectural stainless steel sculpture designed and manufactured by Johannesburg-based Spiral Engineering for the Nike World Headquarters in the USA, won the Art Sector award. Created from archived footage by mapping the movement and form of the runner, Sebastian Coe, this 22 m long stainless steel sculpture reveals, in 3D animation, Seb Coe’s flowing stride as people move past it. Pulse was conceptualised and manu- factured here in South Africa before being shipped and reassembled outside Nike’s SebastianCoeBuilding inBeaverton, Oregon, USA. The winning entry in the Architecture, Building andConstruction category, Antonini

The overall winner of the Sassda Columbus Stainless Awards for 2018 was Durban-based ND Engineering. From left: Sassda Board Chair, Charles Cammell; ND Engineering MD, Elvis Green; and Sassda executive chairman, John Tarboton.

38 ¦ MechChem Africa • November 2018